Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Windy Riley Goes Hollywood - A round up of reviews

Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, Louise Brooks' one short film, was officially released on this day in 1931. The 21 minute film follows cocky Windy Riley as he tries to revamp the publicity department of a Hollywood studio and mucks it all up.


The film stars Jack Shutta (brother of Ethel Shutta, who appeared in the Follies with Brooks) as Windy Riley, and Louise Brooks as Betty Grey. Also in the cast are William B. Davidson, Dell Henderson (a frequent associate of film pioneer D.W. Griffith and, on a less prolific basis, Mack Sennett), Wilbur Mack, and Walter Merrill. This Educational Pictures film, based on the screenplay by Ernest Pagano and Jack Townley, was adapted from the cartoon strip character by Ken Kling. The film was directed by Roscoe Arbuckle under the name William B. Goodrich.

The film received very few reviews, and in fact, they are very few documented showings of the film following its initial release. Here are a few of its reviews drawn from the Louise Brooks Society archive.

anonymous. "Riley Comic Strip Short Rather Dull." Hollywood Reporter, January 22, 1931.
--- "Louise Brooks is the star and brings forth the fact that she has an excellent speaking voice, looks very well, and that her forte is not short-reel comedies."

anonymous. Film Daily, April 5, 1931.
--- review

anonymous. "Shorts." Motion Picture Herald, April 11, 1931.
--- "The auto record of Windy Riley from New York to Hollywood and the subsequent excitement at a studio when he works a fake publicity stunt, cannot be rated more than fair. The story by Ken Kling is not at all unusal. Jack Shutta, Louise Brooks, William Davidson, Dell Henderson, Wilbur Mack and Walter Merrill do their best but not very successfully."

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Dixie Dugan - reader of books

Here is a multi-panel Dixie Dugan Sunday strip from 1932. (By comparison, the daily strip was usually three or four panels.) By this time in the evolution of the Dixie Dugan comic strip, Dixie's hair had evolved away from the Brooks-influenced shingled bob depicted in the 1929 / 1930 strips to something a little longer and more Thirties style. I like this particular strip because it suggests Dixie/Louise was something more than just a "dumb showgirl" = she read books!

Friday, August 8, 2014

In Memoriam: Louise Brooks

In Memoriam: Louise Brooks

Born: November 14, 1906, Cherryvale, KS

Died: August 8, 1985, Rochester, NY


Thursday, August 7, 2014

Louise Brooks appearance in Walter Winchell column mentioning Libby Holman word game

This item appeared in a Walter Winchell column back in the early 1930's. Louise Brooks, who was friendly with Libby Holman, makes an appearance . . . . Brooks Atkinson was a famous theater critic of the time. Other film stars who are also mentioned include Jack (John) Gilbert, Nancy Carroll, Kay Francis, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Fay and the still living Baby Peggy.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

First Silent Film Festival in Thailand features Louise Brooks

Thailand's first ever silent film festival takes place August 7-12, 2014 at the Lido cinema, and on August 13 at the Scala Theatre.

There will be 7 silent films shown, including three by Alfred Hitchcock (The Pleasure Garden, The Ring and The Lodger). Also scheduled are two screenings of Prix de beaute, starring Louise Brooks. One Asian film which will be screened, The Little Toys, was made in China.

Pianists Maud Nelissen from the Netherlands and Mie Yanashita from Japan will provide musical accompaniment. World renowned Thai musician and conductor Trisdee na Pattalung will also be performing music in accompaniment to The Lodger, which ends the festival.


Lido 2 Theatre (Ticket Price 100 THB)
 Thu 7 August
 20.00  The Pleasure Garden*  (UK / 1926 / 90 mins)
 Fri 8 August
 20.00   The Ring**  (UK / 1927 / 108 mins)
 Sat  9 August
 12.00  The Water Magician**  ( Japan / 1933 / 100 mins)
 14.00  Conversation with Mie Yanashita and  Maud Nelissen
 (Free Event with Thai translation)
 16.00  Prix de Beaute * (France / 1930 / 93 mins)
 18.00  Little Toys ** (China / 1933 / 104 mins)
 20.00  Nerven * (Germany / 1919 / 109 mins)
 Sun 10 August
 12.00  The Pleasure Garden ** (UK / 1926 / 90 mins)
 14.00  Public Lecture “The Silent Hitchcock” by Prof. Charles Barr
 (Free Event with Thai translation)
 16.00   The Ring * (UK / 1927 / 108 mins)
 18.00  Nerven ** (Germany / 1919 / 109 mins)
 20.00  Little Toys * (China / 1933 / 104 mins)
    Mon 11 August
 20.00  Prix de Beauté** (France / 1930 / 93 mins)
 Tue 12 August
 20.00  The Water Magician * ( Japan / 1933 / 100 mins)

Scala Theatre  ( Ticket Price  500 THB)

         Wed 13 August
 20.00
         The Lodger  (UK / 1926 / 90 mins)   Accompanied by Trisdee na Patalung

*   Accompanied by Maud Nelissen
** Accompanied by Mie Yanashita
Film screenings with Thai and English Intertitles

Monday, August 4, 2014

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks without bangs

Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks without bangs, taken in 1927.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Prix de beauté screens in New Zealand

Tonight, the New Zealand International Film Festival screens the rarely shown silent version of Prix de beauté, a 1930 French drama starring Louise Brooks. The film, initially shot as a silent, was quickly adapted as a sound film.



The sound version, with dubbed dialogue and music, was released at the time "talkies" were beginning to dominate the French film market. The silent version quietly faded away. This special screening features Marc Taddei conducting the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in a single performance of Timothy Brock’s original score. More information on this event can be found at http://www.nziff.co.nz/2014/auckland/prix-de-beaute/.  Here is what the NZIFF says about the event.

Prix de beauté 1930

Miss Europe
Directed by
Augusto Genina

"Our popular annual engagement with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra showcases the last major film to star the dazzling Louise Brooks. Timothy Brock’s score for this rarely seen jazz-age classic is conducted by Marc Taddei.

Our popular annual engagement with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra showcases one of the few icons of silent-era eroticism whose allure can still be felt 90 years later. Marc Taddei conducts a single performance of Timothy Brock’s original score to accompany Prix de beauté. This rarely seen jazz age classic was the last major film to star the dazzling Louise Brooks.

Famously contemptuous of what Hollywood had to offer her, Brooks is best remembered for three films she made when she headed for Europe: Pandora’s Box, Diary of a Lost Girl, and this French film, long unavailable in its original silent-era version. Like the two better known German films, Prix de beauté puts her at the centre of a trenchant and perversely seductive depiction of social decadence. Venturing an early critique of celebrity culture, the rags to riches tale of a vivacious young office worker who enters a beauty competition packs a surprising punch.

Displaying all the mobility and visual invention of late-20s silent cinema at its height, the film’s location shooting brings documentary immediacy to beaches and fun-fairs jostling with holidaymakers, or the clamorous crowd sizing up Miss Europe of 1928. While these scenes resound with echoes of long forgotten good times, the energy of the woman at their centre feels enduringly present. As much as her piercing beauty and the dramatic bob that forever carries her name, it’s Brooks’ capacity to suggest a dangerous mind that still strikes sparks.

Like many films of the late 20s, Prix de beauté was made first in both sound and silent versions. To the best of our knowledge this will be the New Zealand premiere of the original silent version. We have a recent DCP restoration from an Italian print by the Cinetecas of Bologna and Milan and the Cinémathèque Française. We will provide surtitle translation of the original Italian intertitles.

“This is a photographer’s movie, from the fluid location shooting at the start to the strikingly lit finale… Most beguiling is the camera’s love affair with the face of Louise Brooks, whose eyes retain their sparkle no matter how faded the print. Although beset by a possessive lover, by showbiz exploiters and, in a remarkable funfair scene, by humanity generally, Brooks is so sheerly, dominatingly vivacious that oppression hardly seems an issue.” — Time Out Film Guide

Marc Taddei is currently Music Director of Orchestra Wellington. His several Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Live Cinema engagements have included The Wind in 2006, Nosferatu in 2011, and the Buster Keaton titles Sherlock Jr in 2010 and The Cameraman in 2013.

Timothy Brock is a leading interpreter and composer of orchestral music for silent cinema and has been a regular visitor to the Festival, most recently conducting his restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s score for The Gold Rush in 2009. His original scores have become a regular feature of our Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Live Cinema programme."


Saturday, August 2, 2014

Two more of Truus

Just because.... Two more of Truus van Aalten, just because.



Friday, August 1, 2014

Truus van Aalten


Truus van Aalten, a Dutch actress who appeared in many German films in the 1920s and 1930s, was born on this day in 1910. A popular actress, Truus sported bobbed hair which was reportedly modeled after the cut worn by the American actress Colleen Moore. (Which was slightly different from that worn by Louise Brooks. See the previous LBS blog for some postcard images.)


And like Colleen Moore, comedy was what Truus did best. She was the bright spark in what were considered uninspired films. The German film-making community adored her, and referred to her affectionately as "die kleine Hollandische Käse" ("The Little Dutch Cheese").

Truus' popularity went beyond Germany and The Netherlands, spreading throughout Europe. Some of her German films were even shown in the United States. On October 14, 1933, the New York Times reviewed Truus' film Der Bettelstudent, then showing at the 79th St. Theatre in New York City. The movie, the newspaper said, had "a certain amount of charm", but didn't measure up to other operetta films of its type. However, the reviewer noted Truus was "excellent in her leading comedy role."

With the rise of the Nazi party, roles in German films for the Dutch-born actress began to dry up. In 1940, she returned to The Netherlands. According to her Wikipedia page, "Now she found herself being offered film work - to appear in Dutch films controlled and censored by the occupying power. She refused, realising that they only wanted to use her for propaganda - but as she turned the repeated requests down, she knew she was destroying any hope of rekindling her movie career."

After WWII, Truus hoped to find acting work in the Netherlands, in England, and even in Hollywood, but in the depressed atmosphere of the post-war world, few were interested in a forgotten actress with a foreign accent. Truus never acted again. As her reputation faded, she was seldom mentioned in the various film histories published in 1960s and 1970s. Truus died at age 88 in 1999. For more on the actress, see her Dutch Wikipedia page.



Truus' career, which ran from 1926 to 1939, paralleled that of Brooks, which ran from 1925 to 1938. Like Brooks, Truus portrait was taken at the Atelier Binder, a leading celebrity portrait photographer (who also shot Garbo, Lya di Putti, and others). Truus appeared on postcards issued by the Ross, as had Brooks, and the Dutch-born actress even appeared in a Lux soap advertisement, as had Brooks.


Few of Truus van Aalten's films have been released for home viewing. According to Wikipedia, "One possible reason is that the Russian Army seized the Ufa studios in April 1945 and appropriated the contents - including copies of a huge number of German films that have never been seen since." That's unfortunate, as Truss is pretty, charming, expressive, and appears to have real screen presence.

For more on Truus van Aalten, be sure and check out Roger Mitchell's excellent website (at http://truusvanaalten.com) devoted to the actress. It is the source for all of the images used in this blog.

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